Scott Pedder and co-driver Jon Mortimer have completed a perfect return and opening round of the ARC 2010 with three leg wins from three in a dominant performance at Rally Tasmania.
Not only was this the return of the Pedders Suspension Rally Team, but it was also Scott Pedders first significant event on tarmac. Despite limited testing and no data from 2009, Pedder and Mortimer, together with their team, found a balanced setup early that allowed them to push when they needed.
Scott Pedder: “Full credit to the Race Torque Engineering team. There’s truly something special about the car.” The victory was also significant for other reasons: “It’s been 20 years since a Pedders Suspension Rally Team round victory. It’s just a very special way to return to a championship that I truly love. In a word? Ecstatic!”
For co-driver Jon Mortimer, teaming up with Scott Pedder in 2010 has paid off at round one- “It was a very good drive by Scotty, very well controlled. We’re really happy.”
The boys agreed that their favourite stage was Hellyer- a stage that was repeated in some way three times across the weekend. “I know why they call it Hellyer” said a beaming Mortimer.
On the other side of the garage, Mark Pedder and co-driver Cat Smallbone were also celebrating a triumphant return to the series. Where Scott has been out of competitive rallying for over a year, for Mark it has been more like five years. “It’s a tough way to return- not only with a new team, co-driver and car- but also on bitumen, a surface I have experience on whatsoever!”
It was a steep learning curve for the pair and learn they did- taking 7th in leg one, 4th in leg two and then a controversial 8th in the final leg after a few issues with both the car and officialdom. Overall they finished 4th for the weekend- a brilliant result that exceeded both their own and the pundits expectations.
It was an upbeat Mark Pedder who looked forward to the next round – The Quit Forest Rally in Western Australia. “Back to the gravel and hopefully back to the same or better form. Cat and I are working together really well. The cars have been faultless. We’ll just need to find a good setup for the gravel and hopefully the good results will follow.”
The Quit Forest Rally in Western Australia runs from 16-18 April 2010.
Scott Pedder and Jon Mortimer – winners 2010 Rally Tasmania for the Pedders Suspension Rally Team.